The Denver Broncos on Wednesday denied a report that the team tried to send quarterback Peyton Manning to a farm upstate earlier in the offseason.

“Nothing could be further from the truth,” general manager John Elway told the media. “Peyton Manning is our starter and that has always been the plan for the 2015 season. Besides, Peyton is just so spry. Look at him. Just the other day, he walked to the mailbox all by himself and didn’t even complain about his shoulder afterward.”

Broncos officials insist that Peyton Manning does not have sharply declining abilities and has in fact been taking up a host of hobbies, showing that he’s been just as active as ever. Inside team headquarters is a room full of god’s eyes and other crafts that Manning has made all by himself. Broncos officials also deny that they have been in touch with the Shady Acres Assisted Living Quarterback Camp.

When asked for his reaction to the report, Peyton Manning denied comment, saying he was busy watching the movie The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel for the second time of the day.

For the second time in his three years as the Broncos starting quarterback and the ninth time in his career, Peyton Manning went one and done in the playoffs. In some of those years, the blame laid on Peyton might have been a little excessive, but today he was bad enough that even people who like Pey-Pey are openly hoping he’s going to retire because he’s got nothing left.

Turns out CBS’ awful pregame rap was lying and Peyton is not Benjamin Buttoning into a young quarterback. That’s the last time I believe terrible filler segments on football broadcasts.

CBS

The Denver defense certainly doesn’t escape blame. Aqib Talib had a poor first half and the Denver pass rush didn’t get so much as one quarterback hit all game. Andrew Luck still managed to turn the ball over twice. The Colts in general will have to play much better next week if they hope to have a chance in New England, where they were already blown out once this season.

When C.J. Anderson somehow broke a bunch of tackles in the backfield and converted a fourth down late in the third quarter, it seemed like a turning point moment that normally would springboard a Peyton team to a frustrating win on a late rally. But the most Denver would come away with was a field goal and that would be the end of their scoring for the game.

CBS

The real star of the game, of course, was Chuck Pagano’s unsettling cigar-gnawing dad. Glad the nation will get at least one more week of him gumming stoagies on the sideline.

Certainly not a great half for Aqib Talib or the Broncos passing game, though the Colts are hardly running away with anything at the break. Still, you’d think the Broncos offense could post more than 136 in a half against a middling defense.

Denver’s offense looked nice on their opening drive, even if it needed a dumb Arthur Jones roughing the passer penalty on Peyton Manning to extend a drive. The Broncos took advantage, with a 32-yard strike to Julius Thomas setting up a short Pey-Pey touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas.

Boom Herron tied the game with a six-yard touchdown run at the start of the second quarter, though he did hurt his shoulder on the play and refused to let trainers look at it on the sideline.

Manning was stripped a few minutes later by Jonathan Newsome. The Colts took over in Denver territory. It took Indy eight plays to traverse the remaining 41 yards, but they finish it with a three-yard Dwayne Allen touchdown grab with Talib draped all over him.

The Colts had a chance to push it to a two-score lead but Adam Vinatieri had a rare postseason miss, that one from 44 yards,

Getting the ball back with four minutes left in the half, Manning went into fuck it-chuck it mode, while Demaryius Thomas lost the ability to catch passes underneath. An Andrew Luck armpunt from his own goal line gave Denver another scoring chance. They at least converted that one into a field goal to make it 14-10 at half.

Now that that’s out of the way, we get to have another referendum on whether Peyton Manning is clutch or whether his arm is dead. Indy’s defense is certainly vulnerable to Denver’s recently dominant running game, though unless Andrew Luck goes crazy with the dumb interceptions, the Broncos are going to need a good showing out of Pey-Pey, who had two poor outings in December so now the question of whether Peyton still has it is a thing.

When the teams met on the opening Sunday of the season, Denver jumped out to a 24-0 lead by the second quarter. That Indianapolis only ended up losing by a touchdown (31-24) is nice, though the Colts never got the ball with a chance to tie, so the score was a little misleading.

Anyway, I’m kind of rooting for the Colts to go all the way just because I’ll get to do Photoshops of Hodor on the Iron Throne. Plus the ensuing celebration will likely mean another Jim Irsay DUI.

Coming into the night, the dumb narrative was that Andy Dalton couldn’t win in prime time games. He did win tonight, even though he didn’t really do that much to earn it. Peyton Manning lost the game, because he’s old and busted, according to the narrative to come. Let’s just assume Pey-Pey is going to be fine and reap the hilarious benefits in case he isn’t.

Even if you can’t say the win was on him, Dalton did rebound from an early pick-six to have what was ultimate an okay game. He was lucky not to have more interceptions. At the same time, the Bengals probably should have won the game by a more decisive margin, were it not for a Jeremy Hill fumble in the red zone and Pacman Jones taunting the Bengals out of field goal range after one of four Pey-Pey picks.

ESPN

Rest assured the glory of Peyton Manning was well protected by Mike Tirico, who made sure to tell viewers that each interception was the result of miscommunication between the quarterback and receivers.

With the Bengals win, Cincy clinched a playoff berth and New England clinched home-field advantage in the AFC. Yup, Peyton meltdowns are a bit less enjoyable when they mean good things for New England.

The way the first few possessions went, tonight seemed like the sure Denver victory most expected, but the Bengals defense has been able to confuse Peyton Manning and get a key turnover to help Cincinnati to a two-score lead at halftime thanks to 20 thus far unanswered points.

After the teams traded three-and-outs, an Andy Dalton pass intended for A.J. Green was deflected into the diving hand of Aqib Talib, who got up and returned it for a pick-six for the game’s opening score. It also resulted in Green leaving the game with a shoulder injury. He returned briefly before being taken back to the locker room for evaluation.

Cincinnati quickly responded with a Jeremy Hill 85-yard touchdown run to tie the game. After the pick-six, Cincy didn’t trust Dalton for a while to throw a pass that went further than two yards. Not that Peyton was more daring in his pass attempts in the first half. Basically, it was a first half full of Alex Smithing the ball.

After a Bengals field goal, Reggie Nelson snatched what was ostensibly a Julius Thomas completion for a key Cincy interception. The Bengals took advantage with a Dalton touchdown pass to Jermaine Gresham to grab a two-score lead.

Cincinnati added another three after Dalton nearly threw interceptions on consecutive plays in Denver territory. The Broncos offense had its chance to get on the board via a 49-yard Connor Barth field goal, but it sailed wide.

No matter what happens this evening, the Bengals will be playing in Pittsburgh on Sunday night for the AFC North title. Where tonight’s game factors in for Cincinnati is the question of whether they also want their season to be on the line in Week 17. Should the Bengals lose their final two games, they’d likely be out of the playoffs entirely.

The Broncos are assuring the media that they will still be trying sincerely to win this evening. Technically, Denver still has the possibility of home-field advantage to play for, though that requires the Patriots to lose to Buffalo at home on Sunday, which probably won’t happen though it gives Denver enough reason to stay competitive. Given that Denver won’t be playing a game they have to win for another three weeks, it’s best not to check into cruise control this far out lest it makes them come out flat in the divisional round.

The “Andy Dalton sucks in prime time” games narrative has been on overdrive coming into the game. It’s like a levels of choking taxonomy. Peyton supposedly only chokes in the postseason but Andy Dalton will choke in even moderately big games. Anyway, the timing of the losses is less important than the fact that Andy Dalton is an inconsistent quarterback and a lot of his bad games just happen to come when pitted against the likes of Tom Brady.

The question of whether Peyton Manning is on the decline is being bandied about as well since Denver has been a little more reliant on the run game than it was earlier in the season. That sort of thing just tends to happen later in the season in cold weather sometimes. Also, Pey-Pey’s production is still in line with his 2012 season, if not the record-breaking 2013 year.

NBC had a prepared narrative about these cruel and swirling 9 mph winds in case Peyton Manning struggled in Arrowhead. Instead, the Chiefs needed a quarter to get started and the Broncos have a commanding 20-7 lead going into halftime.

After one quarter, not only did Denver lead 14-0 but they had the yardage advantage to the tune of 130 to negative 10.

After three KC drives that ended in three and outs, the Broncos took over at the start of the second quarter. The Chiefs actually forced a punt a minute and a half into the second. Problem was, the Broncos faked it with a direct snap to David Bruton, who picked up 13 yards and a first down. Yup, that’s faking a punt on a team whose best defensive player is out with cancer. Kansas City forced a 4th and 1 later in the drive, only for the Broncos to attempt that and convert it easily via a 13-yard Anderson run. All that shittiness and Denver only ended up with a field goal to lead 17-0.

Kansas City got their opening first down with just under seven minutes left in the half. Jamaal Charles converted a 4th and 1 later in the possession, leading to Alex Smith completing two straight passes to tight ends, the latter a 20-yard strike to Anthony Fasano, to get on the board and cut the lead to 17-7.

Denver only added another field goal before halftime, which might be a minor triumph for the Chiefs, though this game feels over barring some big turnovers.

]]>http://uproxx.com/ksk/2014/11/broncos-chiefs-snf-live-blog-second-half/feed/629spellkissingsuzykolberspellBroncos-Chiefs SNF Live Bloghttp://uproxx.com/ksk/2014/11/broncos-chiefs-snf-live-blog/
http://uproxx.com/ksk/2014/11/broncos-chiefs-snf-live-blog/#commentsMon, 01 Dec 2014 01:00:52 +0000http://kissingsuzykolber.uproxx.com/?p=98455 #Chiefs players are honoring Eric Berry tonight with special shirts.
#DENvsKC pic.twitter.com/vvnKba9Mbw
— Kansas City Chiefs (@KCChiefs) November 30, 2014
After Chiefs safety Eric Berry had his season ended by being placed on the non-football injury list following the discovery of what is thought to be lymphoma in his chest, there was a kind outpouring of sympathy from the Broncos, Chargers and Raiders organization.]]>

After Chiefs safety Eric Berry had his season ended by being placed on the non-football injury list following the discovery of what is thought to be lymphoma in his chest, there was a kind outpouring of sympathy from the Broncos, Chargers and Raiders organization.

“I know Eric from his days at Tennessee — I always go back there and work out — and of course playing against him throughout my career,” Manning said. “Thinking about him, reached out to him, told him he’s in a lot of peoples’ prayers and thoughts and he’s a tough fighter. I know he’s got a tough fight ahead of him, but we’re certainly thinking about him — the Tennessee family, the NFL’s family. He’s a special player and a really good guy, as well.”

Aww, you guys. It’s almost like some things are more important than divisional rivalries.

Anyway, back to the importance of division rivalries. Kansas City’s loss to Oakland in Week 12 prevented the Chiefs from having a chance to pass Denver for first place in the AFC West with a victory tonight. Still, they can draw just about even with the Broncos (though without the tiebreaker). Should they fail, though, Kansas City will fall perilously behind in the AFC Wild Card race with a pretty taxing final month that includes games against Arizona, Pittsburgh and San Diego. The Broncos are without Julius Thomas and Aqib Talib, which is the biggest break the Chiefs are likely to get.

]]>http://uproxx.com/ksk/2014/11/broncos-chiefs-snf-live-blog/feed/786braveberrykissingsuzykolberPeyton Manning Is Sick Of Your Crap, Scoreboard Operatorhttp://uproxx.com/ksk/2014/10/peyton-manning-is-sick-of-your-crap-scoreboard-operator/
http://uproxx.com/ksk/2014/10/peyton-manning-is-sick-of-your-crap-scoreboard-operator/#commentsFri, 24 Oct 2014 12:32:52 +0000http://kissingsuzykolber.uproxx.com/?p=96108 Broncos offense was on the field . Rivers saw the hijinks, and himself, on the video board and laughed along at his portrayal as public enemy No.]]>

CBS

Late during the Broncos Thursday night victory over the Chargers, the scoreboard at Mile High Stadium started doing some standard crowd-provoking shtick – showing Philip Rivers to elicit boos and showing Peyton Manning to make the crowd cheer. The only problem? The Broncos offense was on the field.

Rivers saw the hijinks, and himself, on the video board and laughed along at his portrayal as public enemy No. 1.

“I really don’t know how to respond to that other than if you had told me when I was 10 years old they would show me in front of 75,000 and get booed,” Rivers said, “and Peyton Manning in the same clip and get cheered, I’d say that’s pretty awesome.”

Manning saw the same thing and was disappointed and embarrassed.

“I’ve got to have a talk with our scoreboard operator,” Manning said. “He’s playing music and showing players dancing and getting the crowd fired up when we have the ball. I don’t think he should be doing that.

Well, that person is fired. Granted, you shouldn’t be distracting your own team’s offense but as you can see, Peyton got apoplectic about it when the Broncos had the ball and a two-score lead with two minutes remaining (San Diego had no timeouts). Just after the two-minute warning, the Broncos offense was called for a false start and Pey-Pey lost it, yelling at the fans to shut up.

It was mostly a tale of two drives in the first half, until an iffy fumble review gave the Broncos another chance.

The teams swapped possessions for most of the first quarter. With less than a minute to go in the first, Emmanuel Sanders made a great leaping catch beating two defenders for 38 yards to get the Broncos into field goal range. Denver progressed to a first and goal from the Broncos 2. It took them three plays to get the touchdown. On the score, Peyton rolled to his right and found Sanders in the back of the end zone for the game’s first score a minute and a half into the second quarter. Phil Simms compared it to The Catch which was ridiculous for too many reasons to list in a hasty recap in a live blog.

In the several drives that went nowhere, Von Miller recorded his ninth sack of the year. The Denver defense has done a great job with the San Diego running game. Branden Oliver has five yards on seven carries at the half.

San Diego’s one sustained drive looked consigned to settling for a field goal when Marmalard hit Antonio Gates for 30 yards on an incredible touch float on a 3rd and 18 to break Lance Alworth’s team receiving yards record. San Diego tied the game on the next play with a receiver screen to Keenan Allen.

On the ensuing kick return, Andre Caldwell was initially ruled to have fumbled, but it was overturned on replay. I really doubted it would be overturned given that the ball had started moving before Caldwell’s elbow came down, but the refs must have thought he hadn’t lost possession.

CBS

The Broncos capitalized on their chance inside two minutes, as Peyton found Sanders again from 31 yards out to

Just when the public was starting to take San Diego somewhat seriously as a contender in the AFC, the Chargers dropped one at home to the Chiefs on Sunday. Later that day, Denver made short work of a banged-up 49ers team while Peyton Manning set some record or something.

Tonight’s game remains for first place in the AFC West and while history suggests crazy things can happen in a division game held on a short week, the Chargers are also dealing with some critical injuries that could make it difficult for them to pull the upset.

Brandon Flowers, who has been a very pleasant surprise after signing a one-year deal with the Chargers in the off-season, will miss the game because of a concussion. Rookie Jason Verrett is unlikely to play because of a shoulder injury (UPDATE: He is playing after all) . San Diego defensive coordinator John Pagano has a better recent history than most with finding schemes to frustrate Peyton, but without his top two cornerbacks, it’s gonna be a tall task.

One recent bright spot for the Chargers is the emergence of Tiny Darren doppelganger Branden Oliver. After back-to-back 100-yard rushing games, Oliver was held to 67 yards on the ground Sunday, though still on 4.5 per carry. With Donald Brown still out and there existing no timetable for Ryan Mathews return, Oliver is getting the full workload for the time being and doing quite well with it.

The Broncos have also been pleased with the fill-in work they’ve gotten from Ronnie Hillman in Montee Ball’s absence. Ball is probably still another week or two from coming back. In the meantime, Hillman has more than 100 yards the past two games.

That’s an ugly beating because no one wants to see Blaine Gabbert under any circumstances. Gabbert getting playing time is basically Jim Harbaugh going nuclear. Blaine even threw a touchdown, which just goes to show just how little the Broncos gave a shit in the final minute of the game.

That touchdown actually saved this game from being the most lop-sided loss that Jim Harbaugh has experienced as coach of the 49ers. That it was a Gabbert garbage time score that prevented that from happened should go down as the saddest moment of the Harbs era no matter the actual score.

Speaking of sad, viewers were treated to this trivia question in the second half.

NBC

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a lot of important sleeping/drinking to do before I’m forced to read a 12,000-word nugget dump about Peyton’s new record in the morning. Hope this makes a tweet of the week!

Hey Peyton, if that congratulatory text from "He who shall not be named" is an MMS… Prolly best to just delete that one.

Well now that all the inane chatter about the touchdown record can be put to rest, perhaps we’ll get a football game in the second half.

The first two Broncos drives ended with Peyton touchdown passes, the first to Emmanuel Sanders and the second to Wes Welker. The grister was initially ruled just short of the goal line but that was quickly overturned. Replays showed he hit the pylon with the ball, anyway. This was only interrupted by a missed 51-yard field goal attempt by Phil Dawson.

The teams traded possessions, which means the San Francisco defense finally got a stop. The Niners had a 2nd and 18 from their own 5 when Colin Kaepernick found Stevie Johnson up the seam for 31 yards. A long pass interference penalty on Bradley Roby got them to the Denver 25. After Anquan Boldin made an amazing catch to get the 49ers inside the 10, he dropped what would have been a walk-in touchdown on third and goal. Instead of San Francisco halving the lead, it was 14-3 Denver.

The Broncos marched back down the field with the record got set on a short sideline pass to Demaryius Thomas in case you won’t hear about that during the next several hours you suffer with sports media. Surprisingly NBC didn’t pull the plug on the game at that point, having gotten what they were looking for. So the 49ers responded by scoring on a four-yard pass to Stevie Johnson to make it somewhat more of a game at half.

Peyton Manning broke Brett Favre’s career touchdown pass record with his 509th passing score, his third of the first half of Sunday night’s game against the 49ers. The record score came on a pass to Demaryius Thomas.

That Peyton set the record in a relative hurry should mean the announcers will stop constantly talking about it, but I know better than to expect that.

At least some of Peyton’s teammates had some with him with the ball that made the record-setting score.